John Bell did two tours with the U.S. Army in Europe, managing transportation and truck drivers. He had been on the waiting list for the trip to Washington since last September.

"To come in and see those people saying thank you for being there, that got me," John Bell said about the Honor Flight volunteers who greet the veterans at the airport.

Veterans recognized the mayor and approached him to say hello, to which the mayor responded, "I'm not a mayor today. I'm a son today."

Today was Honor Flight Birmingham's 12th trip to the memorial. The 95 veterans and their 69 guardians toured the memorial in between rain showers and were also greeted by Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.